In a new video from SoundWorks Collection, several developers on The Last of Us discuss the effort they put into sound design in order to accentuate the game’s atmosphere.

Creative director Neil Duckmann, game director Bruce Straley, senior sound designer Derrick Espino, and others all chime in about their “Hitchcockian” approach to The Last of Us‘s soundscape.

“It’s more about the psychology of what’s happening on the audioscape than what you’re seeing,” Straley says int he video. “Less is more. It’s not about the dialogue and exposition inside of a scene as sometimes the look in a character’s eye. That’s the same thing with the audio. Less is more. Strip all that away. Then when a sound hits, it’s really impactful.”

Druckmann also mentions in the video how he stressed to the sound team not to shy away from subtlety, an aspect of The Last of Us often praised by critics.

The full video clocks in at fifteen minutes in length, so check out the featurette (embedded below) for a more detailed description of the game’s sound design straight from the developers themselves.

Chris Holzworth has wanted to write about games all his life. He first cut his teeth writing for enthusiast sites such as RPGFan, and after writing for just about every other enthusiast website he could came across, wound up as EGM's east coast news correspondent (read: editorial intern) before relocating to LA to serve as news editor. You can follow his rants about storytelling on Twitter @manadrive.[Meet the rest of the crew]